Kuwaiti Ambassador to Washington Sheikh Salem Al-Jaber has carried home a US message that a strike against Iraq is definite and it is only a matter of time, the Kuwait Times reported on Sunday.

The ambassador has been back to Kuwait to discuss regional politics and share the US views on the strike against Iraq with the Kuwaiti leadership, said informed sources, quoted by the English daily.

Kuwait has been asked to participate in the strike by providing military facilities and finances, a matter which is pending for discussion among Gulf countries, the sources added.

The ambassador will also convey the US ideas on the future of Iraq, along with the assurances that Washington will have Kuwait also participated in any decision-making process on the future government in Iraq, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the sources noted that the United States has further assured Sheikh Salem that the compensations and funds claimed from Iraq will not be affected and Kuwait will still have the right to be compensated for its losses resulting from Iraqi seven-month occupation in 1990-1991.

The ambassador will return to Washington with the official response of Kuwait on these matters, the daily added.

Oil-rich Kuwait, a close ally of the United States and an arch-foe of Iraq, has repeatedly voiced its opposition to any military strike against Iraq.

However, the Kuwaiti government has been busy preparing for any emergency should the United States launch a strike against its neighbor.